Headphone, reproduction control method, and program

ABSTRACT

The present technology relates to a headphone and a reproduction control method that enable external sound to be caught more easily and promptly, and a program. 
     The headphone includes: a sound collecting unit configured to collect outer sound; a detection unit configured to detect a specific motion to a sensor unit for capture of the outer sound; and a reproduction control unit configured to cause, in a case where the specific motion is detected, the outer sound collected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced and volume of audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of the audio to stop. The present technology can be applied to, for example, a headphone.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology relates to a headphone, a reproduction controlmethod, and a program, and particularly relates to a headphone and areproduction control method that enable external sound to be caught moreeasily and promptly, and a program.

BACKGROUND ART

For example, a noise-cancelling function in a headphone cancels ambientsound, such as noise in a train or an aircraft, leaking in theheadphone, to provide a quiet audio-visual environment enablingconcentration on music appreciation further.

Meanwhile, because the noise-cancelling function makes the ambient sounddifficult to hear, a noise-cancelling headphone has been known forhaving an external-sound capturing function of capturing external soundfrom a microphone provided to the outer housing of the headphone,namely, a monitoring function, from the viewpoint of safety or foremergency response (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1). Suchnoise-cancelling headphones mostly achieve the external-sound capturingfunction with diversion of a microphone for noise cancelling installedin the external housing.

Such an external-sound capturing function is mostly included in mainlynoise-cancelling headphones, and recently Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) headphones are mostly equipped with the noise-cancellingfunction. Therefore, the external-sound capturing function is added tomany Bluetooth (registered trademark) headphones each attached with thenoise-cancelling function.

A typical external-sound capturing function is mostly operated on or offwith a dedicated switch (button) implemented in a headphone or a cableof the headphone, or the function may be operated with an operation ofan application of a smartphone, for example, in a case where theheadphone or the like has no switch.

CITATION LIST Patent Document Patent Document 1: Japanese PatentApplication Laid-Open No. 2009-21826 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problemsto be Solved by the Invention

However, the technology described above cannot achieve catching ofexternal sound easily and promptly.

Specifically, even if a user desires to listen to external sound quicklyfor emergency response, it requires much labor to find a small switch orit takes time to boot an application of a smartphone. Thus, in a casewhere desiring to listen to, for example, an emergency announcement in atrain, the user cannot make a quick response.

The present technology has been made in consideration of suchsituations, and an object of the present technology is to enableexternal sound to be caught more easily and promptly.

Solutions to Problems

A headphone according to one aspect of the present technology includes:a sound collecting unit configured to collect outer sound; a detectionunit configured to detect a specific motion to a sensor unit for captureof the outer sound; and a reproduction control unit configured to cause,in a case where the specific motion is detected, the outer soundcollected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced and volume ofaudio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of the audioto stop.

The sensor unit can include a touch sensor.

The headphone can be further provided with the sensor unit.

The specific motion can be a motion in which the sensor unit getscovered.

The detection unit can detect a different motion from the specificmotion to the sensor unit, and the reproduction control unit can cause,in a case where the detection unit detects the different motion from thespecific motion, processing of a different function from a function ofreproducing the outer sound, to be performed.

The headphone can be further provided with an operation unit for thecapture of the outer sound, and the reproduction control unit can cause,in a case where an operation to the operation unit is made, the outersound collected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced with theaudio reproduced.

The operation unit can be a switch.

The reproduction control unit can cause, during the detection of thespecific motion, the outer sound to be continuously reproduced and thevolume of the audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproductionof the audio to stop.

The reproduction control unit can start, in the case where the specificmotion is detected, control of reproducing the outer sound and reducingthe volume of the audio under reproduction or stopping the reproductionof the audio.

The headphone can be further provided with a noise-cancelling processingunit configured to achieve a noise-cancelling function on the basis ofthe outer sound collected by the sound collecting unit.

The reproduction control unit can cause, in the case where the specificmotion is detected, the volume of the audio under reproduction to bereduced or the reproduction of the audio to stop and mixed audio ofaudio for noise cancelling and the outer sound collected by the soundcollecting unit to be reproduced, the audio for noise cancelling beinggenerated by the noise-cancelling processing unit on the basis of theouter sound.

The audio for noise cancelling can be audio that cancels a low-frequencycomponent in the outer sound.

A control method or a program according to one aspect of the presenttechnology being a reproduction control method or a program of aheadphone including a sound collecting unit configured to collect outersound, includes the steps of: detecting a specific motion to a sensorunit for capture of the outer sound; and causing, in a case where thespecific motion is detected, the outer sound collected by the soundcollecting unit to be reproduced and volume of audio under reproductionto be reduced or the reproduction of the audio to stop.

According to one aspect of the present technology, a specific motion toa sensor unit for capture of the outer sound is detected in a headphoneincluding a sound collecting unit configured to collect outer sound. Ina case where the specific motion is detected, the outer sound collectedby the sound collecting unit is reproduced and volume of audio underreproduction is reduced or the reproduction of the audio stops.

Effects of the Invention

According to one aspect of the present technology, external sound can becaught more easily and promptly.

Note that, the effect described herein is not necessarily limited, andthus any effect described in the present disclosure may be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of an exemplary configuration of a headphone appliedwith the present technology.

FIG. 2 is a view for describing the start-up of an external-soundcapturing function.

FIG. 3 is a view for describing a monitoring switch.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone applied with the present technology.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an exemplary configuration of a touch sensor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a different exemplary configuration of the touchsensor.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing external-sound capturingprocessing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for describing external-sound capturingprocessing.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing external-sound capturingprocessing.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for describing external-sound capturingprocessing.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for describing external-sound capturingprocessing.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiments applied with the present technology will be described belowwith reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment

<Exemplary Configuration of Headphone>

The present technology is to provide a new user interface (UI)characterized as being able to efficiently operate a monitoring function(external-sound capturing) with which a noise-cancelling headphoneattached with Bluetooth (registered trademark) has been equipped.

That is, the present technology is to achieve monitoring and musicstopping with an easy operation of a Bluetooth (registered trademark)operation touch sensor or is to achieve monitoring and musicreproduction with an operation of a dedicated switch, in a case where itis desirable to listen to ambient sound urgently.

A headphone applied with the present technology has mainly any of thefollowing features (1) to (4).

Feature (1)

There is provided a monitoring mode in which covering the touch sensorallows music to stop.

Feature (2)

There is provided a monitoring mode in which an operation of the switchallows the music to be listened to.

Feature (3)

There are provided both of feature (1) and feature (2).

Feature (4)

The touch sensor also serves as reproduction/stop, for example.

More specifically, the headphone applied with the present technology hasan external-sound capturing function of capturing outer sound with amicrophone installed in an external housing unit of the headphone andreproducing the outer sound in the headphone to enable the outer soundto be listened to with the headphone remaining worn, namely, amonitoring function implemented. The headphone is characterized ascontrolling the external-sound capturing function with an operation ofthe touch sensor installed in the external housing unit of theheadphone.

In addition, the headphone can adopt a scheme in which the touch sensorincludes a plurality of elements.

Furthermore, the headphone enables the external-sound capturing functionto start up when not less than an arbitrarily set number of elements ofthe touch sensor are simultaneously touched with a hand, and enables theexternal-sound capturing function to be released when the hand isremoved.

In addition, the headphone enables the music under reproduction or thelike to pause or the volume to be reduced during the operation of theexternal-sound capturing function, in order to make the external soundeasy to listen to.

The headphone enables the touch sensor to also serve as a Bluetooth(registered trademark) operation sensor.

In addition, the headphone can include an external-sound capturingfunction switch separately from the touch sensor, and enables theexternal-sound capturing function on or off with the external-soundcapturing function switch.

Furthermore, the headphone enables the music to remain reproduced evenwhen the external-sound capturing function is on, so that the outersound can be listened to with the music remaining listened to.

The headphone can be equipped with a noise-cancelling function.

The headphone applied with the present technology will be describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Note that, in FIGS. 1 to 3,mutually corresponding parts are denoted with the same reference signs,and thus the descriptions thereof will be appropriately omitted.

FIG. 1 is a view of an exemplary configuration of one embodiment of theheadphone applied with the present technology.

A headphone 11 illustrated in FIG. 1 is worn on the head of a user 12,and reproduces the sound of content, such as music. In addition, theheadphone 11 has the external-sound capturing function of capturing andreproducing external sound, namely, the monitoring function.

The headphone 11 includes a housing unit 21-R to be worn on a right earportion of the user 12 and a housing unit 21-L to be worn on a left earportion of the user 12.

Note that, in a case where there is no need to distinguish the housingunit 21-R and the housing unit 21-L particularly, hereinafter, they aresimply referred to as a housing unit 21.

In addition, a touch sensor 22 is provided on a face provided on theopposite side to the user 12 side of the housing unit 21-R being anexternal housing portion of the headphone 11, namely, on a housing facefacing outward. Furthermore, a monitoring switch 23 is provided to thehousing unit 21-L being an external housing portion of the headphone 11.

The touch sensor 22 is typically used for Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) operations (e.g., reproduction, stop, volume control, andfast forward). That is, the user 12 operates the touch sensor 22 toenable the headphone 11 to perform processing relating to reproductionof audio of content, for example, reproduction of the sound of content,such as music, stop of the reproduction, volume control of the sound ofthe content to be reproduced, and fast forward of a piece of music to bereproduced.

In addition, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the user 12 coversthe touch sensor 22 with a user's hand 51 to enable ambient sound to becaptured and the music to stop (or the volume to be reduced)immediately. This arrangement enables the user 12 to respond to a suddenannouncement or conversation with the headphone 11 remaining worn.

That is, with the touch sensor 22 covered with, for example, the hand 51of the user 12, the headphone 11 collects the external sound with amicrophone not illustrated, to reproduce the external sound collectedand to reduce the volume of the sound of the content reproduced untilnow or to cause the reproduction of the sound of the content to stop orpause.

Meanwhile, the headphone 11 is provided with, for example, some switchesas illustrated in FIG. 3. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, themonitoring switch 23 is one of the plurality of switches provided to thehousing unit 21-L of the headphone 11.

In this manner, the headphone 11 is equipped with the monitoring switch23 dedicated for the monitoring function, namely, for the external-soundcapturing function, separately from the touch sensor 22, and the user 12operates the monitoring switch 23 to enable a transition to a mode ofcapturing the ambient sound with the music remaining listened to. Thatis, when the monitoring switch 23 is operated while the sound of thecontent is being reproduced, the headphone 11 collects the externalsound with the microphone not illustrated and reproduces the externalsound collected, keeping the sound of the content reproduced.

Furthermore, as a different embodiment of the headphone applied with thepresent technology, it can be considered that a headphone dedicated fornoise cancelling having no Bluetooth (registered trademark) operationfunction, is equipped with a touch sensor in order to have a similarfunction to that of the headphone 11.

The headphone applied with the present technology described above, ischaracterized as being able to start up the external-sound capturingfunction, with diversion of the multi-element-type touch sensor mountedfor Bluetooth (registered trademark) operations, such as volume controland fast forward, by a touch such that a sensor unit is covered with onehand.

The Bluetooth (registered trademark) operation touch sensor is oftenmounted on a housing face on one side of a headphone. Instantaneouslycovering the housing face with one hand is a very easy and intuitivemotion for the user, and thus there is no need of much labor and time asin a case where the position of a small switch is felt by a fingertipand additionally no dedicated switch is required.

In addition, recent external-sound capturing functions are mostlycharacterized as allowing external sound to be listened to with musicunder reproduction. In contrast to this, in order to prioritizelistening to the external sound urgently, the headphone applied with thepresent technology is characterized as reducing the volume of the musicreproduced or causing the reproduction of the music to pause duringcapture of the external sound when the external-sound capturing functionstarts up with an action of covering, with a hand, the touch sensorprovided on the housing face.

This arrangement enables the external-sound capturing function to startup promptly with an easy motion and the external sound to be easilylistened to with the volume of the music reproduced reduced, so that aresponse can be made without missing, for example, an emergencyannouncement. Such a function may function only while the user iscovering the touch sensor or the function may be repeatedly operated onand off by touching the touch sensor as a trigger.

In addition, in order to enable the external-sound capturing function tobe used in combination with a typical one so far, a dedicated switch maybe provided separately from the touch sensor so that the switch enablesthe external-sound capturing function to be operated with music underreproduction.

Note that, a headphone dedicated for noise cancelling having noBluetooth (registered trademark) operation, is equipped with a similartouch sensor, so that a similar function can be added.

In addition, the touch sensor that causes the external-sound capturingfunction to start up can be an electrostatic-capacitance-type matrixsensor. Furthermore, a touch panel having a display function can be usedas the touch sensor. Furthermore, the headphone may achieve anexternal-sound capturing function that enables the outer sound to belistened to, performing noise cancelling to noise in a specific band.

In the present technology described above, the external-sound capturingfunction can start up promptly with an easy operation with the touchsensor and furthermore the external sound is easy to catch because ofthe volume of the music reproduced reduced, so that a response can bemade without missing, for example, an emergency announcement. That isthe external sound can be caught more easily and promptly.

In addition, in order to enable the external-sound capturing function tobe used in combination with a typical spec one, the dedicated switch isprovided separately from the touch sensor to enable the external-soundcapturing function to be operated with the music under reproduction, sothat the external-sound capturing function can be used for emergencyresponse.

<Exemplary Functional Configuration of Headphone>

Next, an exemplary functional configuration of the headphone describedabove will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary functional configuration of aheadphone applied with the present technology.

The headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 4 includes an input unit 91, anattenuator 92, an amplifier 93, a speaker 94, a touch sensor 95, acontroller 96, a microphone 97, an amplifier 98, an external-soundcapturing block 99, and a switch 100.

The configuration of the external appearance of the headphone 81 issimilar to, for example, that of the headphone 11 illustrated in FIG. 1,but is provided with no monitoring switch. In addition, in more detail,the headphone 81 is provided with the attenuator 92, the amplifier 93,the speaker 94, the microphone 97, the amplifier 98, the external-soundcapturing block 99, and the switch 100, for each channel for audio to bereproduced, namely, for each of the left and right channels.

The input unit 91 is connected with an audio reproducing device notillustrated, such as a smartphone or a portable player, by wire through,for example, a cable or the like, and supplies an audio signal of theaudio of content supplied from the audio reproducing device, to thespeaker 94 through the attenuator 92 and the amplifier 93.

The attenuator 92 attenuates the amplitude of the audio signal suppliedfrom the input unit 91 in accordance with the control of the controller96 to control the volume of the audio based on the audio signal, andthen supplies the audio signal having the volume controlled to theamplifier 93. The amplifier 93 amplifies the audio signal supplied fromthe attenuator 92, to supply the audio signal to the speaker 94.

The speaker 94 is, for example, an audio output unit that is a so-calledheadphone driver, arranged on the user's ear side of a housing unit ofthe headphone 81, and reproduces the audio on the basis of the audiosignal supplied from the amplifier 93.

The touch sensor 95 includes, for example, anX-Y-coordinates-detection-type electrostatic sensor or anelectrostatic-button-detection-type electrostatic sensor, and outputs asignal corresponding to a motion of the user to the touch sensor 95, tothe controller 96. The touch sensor 95 corresponds to the touch sensor22 illustrated in FIG. 1, and is provided on a housing face facingoutward, of the housing unit on one side of the headphone 81, forexample, on the right side.

Here, the motion to be made by the user to the touch sensor 95 isspecific for performance of the external-sound capturing function(monitoring function) of causing the speaker 94 to reproduce theexternal sound captured with the microphone 97, namely, the outer soundbeing the outer audio around the headphone 81.

Specifically, the specific motion (gesture) mentioned here is a motionin which the user covers the entire touch sensor 95 with a hand.However, the specific motion for performance of the external-soundcapturing function may be any motion as long as the specific motion isto be intuitively made by the user when desiring to listen to theexternal sound.

For example, a motion in which the user holds a hand over the housingface of the housing unit or a side face of the housing unit or a motionin which the user holds the housing unit with some fingers, may beadopted as the motion for performance of the external-sound capturingfunction. In that case, a sensor, such as the touch sensor 95, may beprovided at an appropriate position of the housing unit so that such amotion can be detected. Note that, the sensor that detects the motion ofthe user is not limited to the touch sensor, and thus may be anydifferent sensor, such as a 3D sensor.

The controller 96 controls the operation of the entire headphone 81. Forexample, the controller 96 functions as a reproduction control unit thatcontrols the attenuator 92 and the switch 100 in response to an outputof the touch sensor 95 to control reproduction of the audio of thecontent or the external sound in the headphone 81.

The microphone 97 is a sound collecting unit that collects the ambientsound of the headphone 81, namely, the external sound (outer sound), andsupplies an external-sound signal acquired by the collection to theamplifier 98. The amplifier 98 amplifies the external-sound signalsupplied from the microphone 97 to supply the external-sound signal tothe external-sound capturing block 99.

The external-sound capturing block 99 captures the external-sound signalfrom the microphone 97 through the amplifier 98 and additionallyperforms, for example, filtering processing to the external-sound signalcaptured as necessary, to supply the external-sound signal to thespeaker 94 through the switch 100 and the amplifier 93. Here, thefiltering processing to be performed to the external-sound signal by theexternal-sound capturing block 99, includes, for example, correcting thefrequency characteristic of the external sound by emphasizing thefrequency band of human voice or cutting (removing) a frequency bandexcluding the frequency band of human voice.

The switch 100 turns on or off in accordance with the control of thecontroller 96. That is, the external-sound capturing block 99 and theamplifier 93 are electrically connected with each other when the switch100 turns on, and the external-sound capturing block 99 and theamplifier 93 are electrically disconnected from each other when theswitch 100 turns off.

<Exemplary Configuration of Touch Sensor>

In addition, the touch sensor 95 illustrated in FIG. 4 has, for example,a configuration illustrated in FIG. 5. Note that, parts in FIG. 5corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted with the same referencesigns and the descriptions thereof will be appropriately omitted.

In FIG. 5, the touch sensor 95 including a plurality of elementsarranged is connected with a detection unit 131 provided in thecontroller 96 through a flexible flat cable. The detection unit 131provided in the controller 96 controls the touch sensor 95 andadditionally detects the motion of the user to the touch sensor 95 onthe basis of the output from the touch sensor 95.

Here, the vertical direction in the figure is defined as a y direction,and the horizontal direction in the figure is defined as an x direction.In the example, the touch sensor 95 detects a touch or approach of theuser to the touch sensor 95 in the X-Y coordinates detection manner.

Specifically, one square represents one element and the elements eachinclude an electrostatic sensor, such as a capacitor, in FIG. 5, forexample.

The touch sensor 95 is provided with five element lines X0 to X4arranged in the x direction and four element lines Y0 to Y3 arranged inthe y direction. The element lines X0 to X4 each include a plurality ofelements arranged in the y direction, and the element lines Y0 to Y3each include a plurality of elements arranged in the x direction.

Note that, in a case where there is no need to distinguish the elementlines X0 to X4 particularly, hereinafter, they are simply referred to asan element line X, and in a case where there is no need to distinguishthe element lines Y0 to Y3 particularly, hereinafter, they are simplyreferred to as an element line Y.

The touch sensor 95 supplies a detected signal corresponding to thetouch or approach of the user to the elements included in the touchsensor 95, from each of the element lines X and the element lines Y tothe detection unit 131.

For example, it is assumed that the user has touched a positionindicated with an arrow A11 with a finger. In this case, theelectrostatic capacitance of an element in proximity to the positionindicated with the arrow A11, increases and thus the detected signaloutput from the element line provided with the element, is large by theincrease in the electrostatic capacitance of the element.

Therefore, in the case where the user has touched the position indicatedwith the arrow A11 with the finger, the detected signal of the elementline X3 and the detected signal of the element line Y2 are particularlylarge, the element line X3 and the element line Y2 each having elementsin proximity to the position.

The detection unit 131 detects the increase in the detected signal ofeach of the element line X3 and the element line Y2, so that it can bedetermined what position (point) of the touch sensor 95 the user hasmade an operation to, namely, what position the user has touched. Thatis, the operated position of the user in the x direction can bespecified from the detected signal of the element line X3, and theoperated position of the user in the y direction can be specified fromthe detected signal of the element line Y2. Furthermore, the operatedposition of the user on an x-y plane can be specified from a specifiedresult of the operated positions in the x direction and the y direction.

For example, the detection unit 131 compares the detected signal from anelement line to a previously determined threshold value th. In a casewhere the detected signal is the threshold value th or more, thedetection unit 131 determines that the user has touched or approached anelement in the element line, namely, the user has made an operation.

When the user acts to cover the touch sensor 95, the detected signalsfrom at least three element lines at a time, are the threshold value thor more. In that case, the detection unit 131 determines that the userhas covered the touch sensor 95. That is, it is determined that thespecific motion for performance of the external-sound capturing function(monitoring function) has been made.

As described above, the detection unit 131 can detect a face touchoperation (multi-point touch operation) of the user to the touch sensor95.

Note that, the detection of the motion in which the user covers thetouch sensor 95, is not limited to whether the detected signals from theat least three element lines are the threshold value th or more at atime, and thus may be performed by any different method. For example, ina case where the detected signals of not less than eight element linesare the threshold value th or more from the total nine element lines, itmay be determined that the user has acted to cover the touch sensor 95.

Note that, the detection unit 131 can detect various operations(gestures) of the user to the touch sensor 95, such as a tap motion (tapoperation) and a swipe motion (swipe operation), on the basis of adetected signal at a plurality of sequential times, namely, thevariation of the detected signal in a time direction. For example, thedetection unit 131 can recognize that the user has made the swipemotion, in a case where the touched position of the user on the touchsensor 95 moves in a predetermined direction with time.

In addition, the touch sensor 95 is not limited to the exampleillustrated in FIG. 5, and thus may have, for example, a configurationillustrated in FIG. 6.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the touch sensor 95 includes eightelements EL1 to EL8. Here, the eight elements EL1 to EL8 each includinga button-type electrostatic sensor, are arranged annularly, and groundregions are provided inside and outside the elements. Note that, in acase where there is no need to distinguish the elements EL1 to EL8particularly, hereinafter, they are simply referred to as an element EL.

The detection unit 131 of the controller 96 is to be provided with adetected signal from each element EL. The detection unit 131 comparesthe detected signal provided from an element EL to the threshold valueth described above, so that the detection unit 131 can detect a touch orapproach of the user to the element EL.

Therefore, in the example, in a case where not less than a predeterminednumber of detected signals from the detected signals of the eightelements EL, for example, all the eight detected signals are thethreshold value th or more, it can be determined that the user has actedto cover the touch sensor 95.

In addition, the touch sensor 95 illustrated in FIG. 6 can detect thetap motion or the swipe motion, similarly to the example illustrated inFIG. 5. For example, in a case where an operation to only the elementEL7 is detected immediately after detection of an operation to only theelement EL2, it is determined that the user has made the swipe motion inthe left direction. In addition, for example, in a case where anoperation to only the element EL4 is detected immediately afterdetection of an operation to only the element EL1, it is determined thatthe user has made the swipe motion in the downward direction.

Note that, the example illustrated in FIG. 5 and the example illustratedin FIG. 6 have been described as the exemplary configuration of thetouch sensor 95, but the touch sensor 95 may have any configuration aslong as the touch sensor 95 can detect at least the specific motion ofthe user for performance of the external-sound capturing function(monitoring function). In addition, the following description will begiven with the touch sensor 95 having the configuration illustrated inFIG. 5.

<Description of External-Sound Capturing Processing>

Next, the operation of the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 4 will bespecifically described. That is, external-sound capturing processing ofthe headphone 81 will be described below with reference to a flowchartof FIG. 7. Note that, here, it is assumed that the audio reproducingdevice has been supplying the headphone 81 with the audio signal of theaudio of the content, namely, the audio of the content is beingreproduced.

At step S11, the detection unit 131 of the controller 96 determineswhether the user has acted to cover the touch sensor 95, on the basis ofa detected signal supplied from the touch sensor 95.

For example, in a case where the detected signals from not less than apredetermined number of element lines previously determined are thethreshold value th or more, the detection unit 131 determines that themotion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, namely,the motion for performance of the external-sound capturing function hasbeen made.

In a case where it is determined at step S11 that the motion in whichthe touch sensor 95 gets covered, has not been made, namely, anindication for performance of the external-sound capturing function hasnot been given, the processing proceeds to step S12.

At step S12, the controller 96 causes the audio of the content to bereproduced, and the external-sound capturing processing finishes. Thatis, the controller 96 renders the switch 100 off.

In this case, the audio signal of the audio of the content supplied fromthe audio reproducing device to the input unit 91, is supplied to thespeaker 94 through the attenuator 92 and the amplifier 93. The speaker94 reproduces the audio of the content, on the basis of the audio signalsupplied in this manner. That is, the audio of the content iscontinuously reproduced.

In contrast to this, in a case where it is determined at step S11 thatthe motion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, theprocessing proceeds to step S13.

At step S13, the controller 96 controls the attenuator 92 to reduce thevolume of the audio of the content.

The attenuator 92 attenuates the amplitude of the audio signal suppliedfrom the input unit 91 in accordance with the control of the controller96, to reduce the volume of the audio of the content based on the audiosignal, and supplies the audio signal acquired resultantly to thespeaker 94 through the amplifier 93. Note that, the audio of the contentmay be muted during the volume control.

The speaker 94 reproduces the audio of the content, on the basis of theaudio signal supplied from the attenuator 92 through the amplifier 93.This arrangement allows the user to catch the external sound easily withthe volume of the audio of the content reduced or muted.

At step S14, the external-sound capturing block 99 captures the externalsound around the headphone 81. That is, the headphone 81 has themicrophone 97 constantly collecting the external sound. After acquiringthe external-sound signal from the microphone 97 through the amplifier98, the external-sound capturing block 99 performs processing such asfrequency characteristic correction, to the external-sound signal asnecessary and additionally outputs the external-sound signal subjectedto the processing as necessary.

At step S15, the controller 96 turns the switch 100 on and renders theexternal-sound capturing block 99 electrically connected with theamplifier 93, to cause the external sound captured to be reproduced.

When the control of the controller 96 turns the switch 100 on, theexternal-sound signal output from the external-sound capturing block 99is supplied to the speaker 94 through the switch 100 and the amplifier93. The speaker 94 reproduces the external sound on the basis of theexternal-sound signal supplied from the external-sound capturing block99 in this manner.

At this time, because the volume of the audio of the content has beenreduced or muted resulting from the volume reduced, the user can clearlycatch the external sound reproduced. When the speaker 94 reproduces theexternal sound, the external-sound capturing function finishes.

As described above, the headphone 81 detects the motion in which theuser covers the touch sensor 95. In response to the detected resultthereof, the headphone 81 performs volume control to the audio of thecontent, and additionally reproduces the external sound.

In this manner, the detection of the motion, such as the covering of thetouch sensor 95 by the user, made instantaneously or intuitively whenthe user desires to listen to the external sound and the reproduction ofthe external sound enable the user to catch the external sound moreeasily and promptly. That is, the usability of the headphone 81 canimprove.

Furthermore, during the reproduction of the external sound, reducing thevolume of the audio of the content reproduced until now or muting theaudio of the content enables the external sound to be caught moreclearly.

Note that, the headphone 81 starts the performance of the external-soundcapturing function, namely, the processing of reproducing the externalsound with the detection of the motion in which the touch sensor 95 getscovered as a trigger, but the timing of the finish of the processing ofreproducing the external sound may be any timing. In this respect,embodiments to be described later are similar to the embodiment.

For example, after starting the processing of reproducing the externalsound, the controller 96 enables the external sound to be continuouslyreproduced while the detection unit 131 is continuously detecting themotion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered. At this time, thevolume of the audio of the content remains reduced.

In this case, the reproduction of the external sound starts when theuser converse the touch sensor 95, and the reproduction of the externalsound finishes when the user stops covering the touch sensor 95 afterthat, namely, the hand is removed from the touch sensor 95.

Note that, in the example, while listening to the external sound, theuser needs to cover the touch sensor 95 continuously with the hand, butthe hand of the user may gradually deviate from the touch sensor 95while the user is listening to the external sound.

Thus, after the reproduction of the external sound starts once, forexample, the threshold value th used in the detection unit 131 may bechanged to a value slightly smaller than that in the normal state or thenumber of detected signals each having the threshold value th or more,required in order to determine that the touch sensor 95 has beencovered, may be made less than that in the normal state so that themotion in which the user covers the touch sensor 95 is easy to detect.This arrangement enables the reproduction of the external sound to startand stop more appropriately.

In addition, for example, in a case where the motion in which the touchsensor 95 gets covered is detected, the controller 96 starts theprocessing (control) of reproducing the external sound. After that, thecontroller 96 enables the reproduction of the external sound to stopwhen a specific operation is made. In the example, during thereproduction of the external sound, the volume of the audio of thecontent remains reduced.

In this case, for example, when the motion in which the user covers thetouch sensor 95 with the hand is detected again after the reproductionof the external sound starts, the controller 96 causes the reproductionof the external sound to stop. Therefore, in this case, after the usercovers the touch sensor 95 with the hand to start the reproduction ofthe external sound, even when the user removes the hand from the touchsensor 95, the reproduction of the external sound is continuouslyperformed. Then, when the user covers the touch sensor 95 with the handagain, the reproduction of the external sound stops.

Note that, a motion to the touch sensor 95 for the stop of thereproduction of the external sound, is not limited to the motion inwhich the user covers the touch sensor 95 with the hand, and thus may beany different motion. In addition, the embodiment is not limited to theoperation to the touch sensor 95. The reproduction of the external soundmay stop when an operation is made to an operation unit, such as adifferent button or switch, provided to the headphone 81.

Furthermore, the example in which a device to be equipped with theexternal-sound capturing function is a headphone, has been describedabove, but the present technology can be applied to others, such as anearphone and a head-mounted display.

For example, for application of the present technology to the earphone,when a user wearing the earphone on the ears acts to cover an earphoneportion, namely, an ear portion, detection of the motion by the earphoneenables capture and reproduction of external sound to be performed andadditionally enables volume control of audio reproduced until now orstop of the reproduction to be performed. In addition, when the userholds, for example, an operation unit provided to a cable of theearphone, namely, a controller portion, the capture and reproduction ofthe external sound may be performed and additionally the volume controlof the audio reproduced until now or the stop of the reproduction may beperformed.

Second Embodiment

<Exemplary Functional Configuration of Headphone>

In addition, the headphone 81 is connected with the audio reproducingdevice with the cable in the example illustrated in FIG. 4, but theheadphone 81 and the audio reproducing device may be mutually connectedwirelessly. That is, the headphone 81 may be a so-called Bluetooth(registered trademark) headphone. In that case, the headphone 81 has,for example, a configuration illustrated in FIG. 8. Note that, parts inFIG. 8 corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are denoted with the samereference signs and the descriptions thereof will be appropriatelyomitted.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, the headphone 81 and an audioreproducing device 161 wirelessly communicate with each other inaccordance with a standard, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) togive and receive audio of content to be reproduced, namely, an audiosignal or an operation command for reproduction control.

Typically, Bluetooth (registered trademark) is often used for theexchange between a headphone and an audio reproducing device, but herethe following description will be given with the headphone 81 and theaudio reproducing device 161 that wirelessly communicate with each otherin an arbitrary scheme.

In addition, the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes an antenna171, an input/output unit 172, an attenuator 92, an amplifier 93, aspeaker 94, a touch sensor 95, a controller 96, a microphone 97, anamplifier 98, an external-sound capturing block 99, and a switch 100.

That is, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 8 is differentfrom the configuration of the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 4 in thatthe antenna 171 and the input/output unit 172 are provided instead ofthe input unit 91. Except the point, the configuration of the headphone81 of FIG. 8 is similar to the configuration of the headphone 81illustrated in FIG. 4.

In the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 8, the antenna 171 receives theaudio signal of the audio of the content under reproduction, transmittedfrom the audio reproducing device 161 through the wirelesscommunication, to supply the audio signal to the input/output unit 172.That is, the input/output unit 172 receives the audio signal with theantenna 171. The input/output unit 172 supplies the audio signalreceived to the speaker 94 through the attenuator 92 and the amplifier93.

In addition, a detection unit 131 of the controller 96 detects a motion(operation) of a user to the touch sensor 95, on the basis of a detectedsignal from the touch sensor 95.

In the example, in addition to a motion in which the touch sensor 95gets covered, a different motion from the motion, such as a tap motionor a swipe motion, is detected by the detection unit 131.

For example, the user makes the tap motion or the swipe motion whenindicating the control relating to the reproduction of the audio of thecontent, such as causing the reproduction of the audio of the content tostop, causing the reproduction of the audio of the content to pause, orcausing the content to fast-forward.

In this manner, in a case where the user makes the different motion fromthe motion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered, to the touchsensor 95, the controller 96 performs processing of a different functionfrom an external-sound capturing function.

That is, in response to the detected result of the motion (operation) ofthe user by the detection unit 131, the controller 96 generates theoperation command being a command relating to the reproduction of theaudio of the content, to supply the operation command to theinput/output unit 172. For example, the operation command indicates thestop of the reproduction or the pause of the reproduction and the like.

The input/output unit 172 transmits the operation command supplied fromthe controller 96, to the audio reproducing device 161 through thewireless communication with the antenna 171.

Then, the audio reproducing device 161 receives the operation commandtransmitted from the headphone 81, to perform processing correspondingto the operation command. For example, in a case where receiving theoperation command indicating the stop of the reproduction, the audioreproducing device 161 stops transmitting the audio signal of the audioof the content transmitted to the headphone 81 until now, to cause thereproduction of the audio of the content to stop.

<Description of External-Sound Capturing Processing>

Next, external-sound capturing processing to be performed by theheadphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 8 will be described with reference to aflowchart of FIG. 9.

Note that, here the audio reproducing device 161 has been continuouslytransmitting the audio signal of the audio of the content to theheadphone 81, and thus the audio of the content is being reproduced.

When the external-sound capturing processing starts, the processing atsteps S41 and S42 is performed, but the processing is similar to theprocessing at steps S11 and S12 of FIG. 7, and thus the descriptionthereof will be omitted.

Note that, in this case, at step S42, the input/output unit 172 receivesthe audio signal transmitted from the audio reproducing device 161 withthe antenna 171, and additionally supplies the audio signal received tothe speaker 94 through the attenuator 92 and the amplifier 93. Then, thespeaker 94 reproduces the audio of the content on the basis of the audiosignal supplied from the input/output unit 172.

In contrast to this, in a case where it is determined at step S41 thatthe motion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, thecontroller 96 causes the reproduction of the audio of the content tostop, at step S43.

Specifically, the controller 96 generates the operation commandindicating the stop of the reproduction, to supply the operation commandto the input/output unit 172. The input/output unit 172 transmits theoperation command supplied from the controller 96, to the audioreproducing device 161 through the wireless communication with theantenna 171.

Then, the audio reproducing device 161 that has received the operationcommand transmitted, stops transmitting the audio signal of the audio ofthe content reproduced until now, in response to the operation command.This arrangement causes the audio signal not to be transmitted from theaudio reproducing device 161 to the headphone 81, and thus thereproduction of the audio of the content stops in the headphone 81.

Note that, at step S43, the controller 96 may cause the reproduction ofthe audio of the content to pause instead of causing the reproduction ofthe audio of the content to stop completely. In addition, similarly tostep S13 of FIG. 7, the controller 96 may cause the attenuator 92 toreduce or mute the volume of the audio of the content underreproduction.

In the present specification, the case where the reproduction stopscompletely and the case where the reproduction pauses have beendistinctively described basically, but when only an expression of thestop of the reproduction is given with no particular distinction, thecase where the reproduction pauses is included in addition to the casewhere the reproduction stops completely.

After the reproduction of the audio of the content stops, the processingat steps S44 and S45 is performed and then the external-sound capturingprocessing finishes. The processing is similar to the processing atsteps S14 and S15 of FIG. 7, and thus the description thereof will beomitted.

As described above, the headphone 81 detects the motion in which theuser covers the touch sensor 95. In response to the detected resultthereof, the headphone 81 causes the reproduction of the audio of thecontent to stop and additionally reproduces the external sound. Thisarrangement enables the user to catch the external sound more easily andpromptly.

Third Embodiment

<Exemplary Functional Configuration of Headphone>

In addition, the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 8 may be furtherprovided with a noise-cancelling function. In that case, the headphone81 has, for example, a configuration illustrated in FIG. 10. Note that,parts in FIG. 10 corresponding to those in FIG. 8 are denoted with thesame reference signs, and thus the descriptions thereof will beappropriately omitted.

The headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 10 includes an antenna 171, aninput/output unit 172, an attenuator 92, an amplifier 93, a speaker 94,a touch sensor 95, a controller 96, a microphone 97, an amplifier 98, anexternal-sound capturing block 99, a noise cancelling (NC) block 201,and a switch 202.

That is, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 10 is differentfrom the configuration of the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 8 in thatno switch 100 is provided but the NC block 201 and the switch 202 arenewly provided. Except the point, the configuration of the headphone 81of FIG. 10 is similar to the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG.8.

In the example, the amplifier 98 is connected with not only theexternal-sound capturing block 99 but also the NC block 201. Inaddition, a node Na is connected with an output of the NC block 201, anda node Nb is connected with an output of the external-sound capturingblock 99.

The NC block 201 generates and outputs a noise-cancelling signal fornoise cancelling, on the basis of an external-sound signal supplied fromthe microphone 97 through the amplifier 98.

Therefore, reproduction with supply of the noise-cancelling signal tothe speaker 94 can cancel external sound that a user hears leaking fromthe outside of the headphone 81, so that the noise-cancelling functioncan be achieved.

The NC block 201 functions as a noise-cancelling processing unit thatachieves the noise-cancelling function on the basis of theexternal-sound signal. In addition, the headphone 81 has the microphone97 used in common between external-sound capturing and noise cancelling.Note that separate microphones may be used for the external-soundcapturing and the noise cancelling.

The switch 202 switches to either the node Na or the node Nb for adestination, in accordance with the control of the controller 96. Thatis, the switch 202 switches for a source of a signal to be output to theamplifier 93.

Specifically, when the switch 202 is connected with the node Na, thenoise-cancelling signal output from the NC block 201 is supplied to theamplifier 93 through the switch 202. In addition, when the switch 202 isconnected with the node Nb, the external-sound signal output from theexternal-sound capturing block 99 is supplied to the amplifier 93through the switch 202.

<Description of External-Sound Capturing Processing>

Next, external-sound capturing processing to be performed by theheadphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 10 will be described with reference toa flowchart of FIG. 11.

Note that, here an audio reproducing device 161 has been continuouslytransmitting an audio signal of audio of content to the headphone 81,and thus the audio of the content is being reproduced.

At step S71, a detection unit 131 of the controller 96 determineswhether the user has acted to cover the touch sensor 95, on the basis ofa detected signal supplied from the touch sensor 95. Note that, thedetermination of whether the motion in which the touch sensor 95 getscovered has been made, is made at step S71 in a similar manner to stepS11 of FIG. 7.

In a case where it is determined at step S71 that the motion in whichthe touch sensor 95 gets covered has not been made, the NC block 201generates the noise-cancelling signal at step S72.

That is, the headphone 81 has the microphone 97 constantly collectingthe external sound. The NC block 201 acquires the external-sound signalfrom the microphone 97 through the amplifier 98, to generate thenoise-cancelling signal.

At this time, the NC block 201 may perform processing such as frequencycharacteristic correction, to the noise-cancelling signal as necessary.The NC block 201 outputs the noise-cancelling signal acquired in thismanner, to the node Na.

At step S73, the controller 96 controls the switch 202 to combine thenoise-cancelling signal with the audio signal and causes the audio ofthe content to be reproduced, and then the external-sound capturingprocessing finishes.

Specifically, the switch 202 selects the node Na as the destination inresponse to the control of the controller 96. This arrangement allowsthe noise-cancelling signal output from the NC block 201 to be suppliedto the amplifier 93 through the switch 202. In addition, theinput/output unit 172 supplies the audio signal of the audio of thecontent under reproduction, to the amplifier 93 through the attenuator92.

Therefore, the amplifier 93 is supplied with a signal acquired by thecombination of the audio signal and the noise-cancelling signal(hereinafter, also referred to as a combined audio signal). Theamplifier 93 amplifies and supplies the combined audio signal supplied,to the speaker 94.

In addition, the speaker 94 reproduces the audio of the content, on thebasis of the combined audio signal supplied from the amplifier 93. Thisarrangement allows the audio of the content and audio for the noisecancelling to be reproduced. That is, the reproduction of the audio ofthe content is performed with the noise-cancelling function remainingperformed.

In this case, the audio for the noise cancelling and the external soundarriving at an ear of the user due to leakage from the outside, canceleach other out, and thus the user hears only the audio of the content.

Meanwhile, in a case where it is determined at step S71 that the motionin which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, the processingat steps S74 to S76 is performed and then the external-sound capturingprocessing finishes. The processing is similar to the processing atsteps S43 to S45 of FIG. 9, and thus the description thereof will beomitted.

Note that, at step S76, the controller 96 controls the switch 202 toselect the node Nb as the destination. This arrangement allows theexternal-sound signal output from the external-sound capturing block 99to be supplied to the speaker 94 through the switch 202 and theamplifier 93, so that the speaker 94 reproduces the external sound.

As described above, the headphone 81 detects the motion in which theuser covers the touch sensor 95. In response to the detected resultthereof, the headphone 81 causes the reproduction of the audio of thecontent to stop and additionally reproduces the external sound. Thisarrangement enables the user to catch the external sound more easily andpromptly. Particularly, the performance of the noise-cancelling duringthe reproduction of the audio of the content, can provide an environmentsuitable to content appreciation.

Fourth Embodiment

<Exemplary Functional Configuration of Headphone>

In addition, the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 10 provides either theexternal-sound signal or the noise-cancelling signal to the speaker 94with the switch 202, but a mixer may be used instead of the switch 202.

In that case, the headphone 81 has, for example, a configurationillustrated in FIG. 12. Note that, parts in FIG. 12 corresponding tothose in FIG. 10 are denoted with the same reference signs, and thus thedescriptions thereof will be appropriately omitted.

The headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 12 includes an antenna 171, aninput/output unit 172, an attenuator 92, an amplifier 93, a speaker 94,a touch sensor 95, a controller 96, a microphone 97, an amplifier 98, anexternal-sound capturing block 99, a NC block 201, and a mixer 231.

That is, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 12 is differentfrom the configuration of the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 10 inthat the mixer 231 is provided instead of the switch 202. Except thepoint, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 12 is similar tothe configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 10.

In the example, in accordance with the control of the controller 96, themixer 231 appropriately mixes a cancelling signal supplied from the NCblock 201 and an external-sound signal supplied from the external-soundcapturing block 99 at a predetermined ratio, and outputs a mixed signalacquired as a result to the amplifier 93.

For example, when the noise-cancelling signal and the external-soundsignal are indicated with Nc and Ot, respectively, and arbitrarycoefficients are defined as a and β, the mixed signal Mx satisfies thefollowing expression: Mx=αNc+βOt. Note that the sum of the coefficient αand the coefficient β is not necessarily required to be 1.

For example, as the coefficient α increases, the contribution ratio ofthe noise-cancelling signal to the mixed signal increases. Conversely,as the coefficient β increases, the contribution ratio of theexternal-sound signal to the mixed signal increases. Particularly, whenthe coefficient β satisfies the following expression: β=0, the mixedsignal is substantially the noise-cancelling signal.

Thus, for example, during typical reproduction of audio of content,namely, when the audio of the content is reproduced with anoise-cancelling function remaining performed, the mixer 231 makes thecoefficient β satisfy the following expression: β=0, and supplies thenoise-cancelling signal to the amplifier 93.

In contrast to this, when an external-sound capturing function isperformed, the mixer 231 generates the mixed signal having thecoefficients α and β each being an appropriate value not zero, andsupplies the mixed signal to the amplifier 93.

At this time, the external-sound signal and the noise-cancelling signalsubjected to, for example, frequency characteristic correction by filterprocessing are used for the generation of the mixed signal, for example.

Specifically, for example, the external-sound capturing block 99performs the frequency characteristic correction to the external-soundsignal so that a middle to high pitched sound is extracted, namely, thefrequency band of human voice is emphasized.

In addition, the NC block 201 performs the frequency characteristiccorrection to the noise-cancelling signal so that only a low pitchedsound, namely, a low-frequency component being the component of afrequency band not being the frequency of human voice, is cancelled.That is, the frequency characteristic correction is performed so thataudio cancelling only the low-frequency component is acquired as audiobased on the noise-cancelling signal.

In this case, if combined audio is reproduced on the basis of the mixedsignal acquired by the combination (mixture) of the external-soundsignal and the noise-cancelling signal, sound excluding human voice iscancelled and only the human voice is heard clearly. That is, if thecombined audio acquired by the combination (mixture) of the audio fornoise cancelling and the external sound, is reproduced, the human voicea user desires to listen to as the external sound is heard clearly.

Note that, during the performance of the external-sound capturingfunction, for example, making the coefficient β multiplied by theexternal-sound signal satisfy the following expression: β>1, namely,making the coefficient β larger than 1 and amplifying the external-soundsignal enable the external sound to be caught more easily. In this case,the user can catch the external sound more loudly and clearly thanlistens to the external sound with the headphone 81 taken off.

<Description of External-Sound Capturing Processing>

Next, external-sound capturing processing to be performed by theheadphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 12 will be described with reference toa flowchart of FIG. 13.

Note that, here an audio reproducing device 161 has been continuouslytransmitting an audio signal of the audio of the content to theheadphone 81, and thus the audio of the content is being reproduced.

In addition, when the external-sound capturing processing starts, theprocessing at steps S101 to S103 is performed, but the processing issimilar to the processing at steps S71 to S73 of FIG. 11, and thus thedescription thereof will be appropriately omitted.

Note that, at step S103, in accordance with the control of thecontroller 96, the mixer 231 generates the mixed signal substantiallybeing the noise-cancelling signal, with the coefficients α and βsatisfying the following expressions: α=1 and β=0, respectively, andsupplies the mixed signal to the speaker 94 through the amplifier 93.

In addition, in a case where it is determined at step S101 that a motionin which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, the controller96 causes the reproduction of the audio of the content to stop at stepS104. Note that the processing similar to that at step S43 of FIG. 9 isperformed at step S104. That is, an operation command indicating thestop of the reproduction is generated and transmitted to the audioreproducing device 161. In this case, the reproduction may pause or theattenuator 92 may reduce or mute the volume of the audio of the content.

At step S105, the external-sound capturing block 99 captures theexternal sound around the headphone 81. That is, at step S105, theprocessing similar to that at step S44 of FIG. 9 is performed togenerate the external-sound signal.

At this time, the external-sound capturing block 99 performs, forexample, the frequency characteristic correction to the external-soundsignal with the filtering processing so that the middle to high pitchedsound is extracted, and supplies the external-sound signal subjected tothe frequency characteristic correction, to the mixer 231.

At step S106, the NC block 201 generates and supplies thenoise-cancelling signal to the mixer 231.

That is, the NC block 201 acquires the external-sound signal from themicrophone 97 through the amplifier 98 and generates thenoise-cancelling signal. Furthermore, the NC block 201 performs, forexample, the frequency characteristic correction to the noise-cancellingsignal acquired, with the filtering processing so that only the lowpitched sound is cancelled, and supplies the noise-cancelling signalsubjected to the frequency characteristic correction, to the mixer 231.

At step S107, the mixer 231 combines the external-sound signal suppliedfrom the external-sound capturing block 99 and the noise-cancellingsignal supplied from the NC block 201 to generate the mixed signal, inaccordance with the control of the controller 96.

At step S108, the controller 96 causes the mixer 231 to reproduce themixed signal, and the external-sound capturing processing finishes.

That is, the controller 96 causes the mixer 231 to supply the mixedsignal acquired at step S107, to the speaker 94 through the amplifier93. At this time, the mixed audio to be reproduced by the speaker 94 hasbeen corrected so that the frequency band of the human voice in theexternal sound is caught more easily.

As described above, the headphone 81 detects the motion in which theuser covers the touch sensor 95. In response to the detected resultthereof, the headphone 81 causes the reproduction of the audio of thecontent to stop and additionally reproduces the external sound. Thisarrangement enables the user to catch the external sound more easily andpromptly. Particularly, using the noise-cancelling signal during thereproduction of the external sound, enables the external sound to becaught more easily.

Fifth Embodiment

<Exemplary Functional Configuration of Headphone>

In addition, the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 12 may be furtherprovided with a switch dedicated for external-sound capturing.

In that case, the headphone 81 has, for example, a configurationillustrated in FIG. 14. Note that, parts in FIG. 14 corresponding tothose in FIG. 12 are denoted with the same reference signs, and thus thedescriptions thereof will be appropriately omitted.

The headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 14 includes an antenna 171, aninput/output unit 172, an attenuator 92, an amplifier 93, a speaker 94,an external-sound capturing switch 261, a touch sensor 95, a controller96, a microphone 97, an amplifier 98, an external-sound capturing block99, a NC block 201, and a mixer 231.

That is, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 14 is differentfrom the configuration of the headphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 12 inthat the external-sound capturing switch 261 is newly provided. Exceptthe point, the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 14 is similarto the configuration of the headphone 81 of FIG. 12.

The external-sound capturing switch 261 is an operation unit for captureof external sound (outer sound), including, for example, a slide-typeswitch or a button-type switch. The external-sound capturing switch 261is provided to, for example, a housing unit on the opposite side to ahousing unit provided with the touch sensor 95 in the headphone 81.

The external-sound capturing switch 261 corresponds to, for example, themonitoring switch 23 illustrated in FIG. 1. A user operates theexternal-sound capturing switch 261 in capturing the external sound withaudio of content under reproduction. The operation of the user causesthe external-sound capturing switch 261 to supply a signal correspondingto the operation, to the controller 96.

<Description of External-Sound Capturing Processing>

Next, external-sound capturing processing to be performed by theheadphone 81 illustrated in FIG. 14 will be described with reference toa flowchart of FIG. 15.

Note that, here an audio reproducing device 161 has been continuouslytransmitting an audio signal of the audio of the content to theheadphone 81, and thus the audio of the content is being reproduced.

At step S231, the controller 96 determines whether the user has operatedthe external-sound capturing switch 261, on the basis of the signalsupplied from the external-sound capturing switch 261. For example, in acase where the external-sound capturing switch 261 supplies the signalof the effect that the external-sound capturing switch 261 has beendepressed, it is determined that the external-sound capturing switch 261has been operated.

At steps S and S231, in a case where it is determined that theexternal-sound capturing switch 261 has not been operated, theprocessing at steps S232 and S233 is performed, and then the processingproceeds to step S236.

Note that, the processing at steps S232 and S233 is similar to theprocessing at steps S102 and S103 of FIG. 13, and thus the descriptionthereof will be omitted. In this case, the reproduction of the audio ofthe content is performed with a noise-cancelling function remainingperformed.

In contrast to this, in a case where it is determined at step S231 thatthe external-sound capturing switch 261 has been operated, theexternal-sound capturing block 99 captures the external sound around theheadphone 81, at step S234.

That is, after acquiring an external-sound signal from the microphone 97through the amplifier 98, the external-sound capturing block 99 performsprocessing such as frequency characteristic correction, to theexternal-sound signal as necessary, and additionally supplies theexternal-sound signal subjected to the processing as necessary, to themixer 231.

At step S235, the controller 96 causes the mixer 231 to combine theexternal-sound signal with the audio signal, and causes the audio of thecontent and the external sound to be reproduced.

That is, the audio of the content is being reproduced with supply of theaudio signal from the input/output unit 172 to the speaker 94 throughthe attenuator 92 and the amplifier 93. In the state, the controller 96causes the mixer 231 to supply the external-sound signal from the mixer231 to the speaker 94 through the amplifier 93.

Then, the speaker 94 is supplied with a signal acquired by thecombination of the audio signal and the external-sound signal. When thespeaker 94 reproduces audio on the basis of the signal, the externalsound is reproduced with the audio of the content under reproduction.Therefore, in this case, an external-sound capturing function isachieved with the audio of the content under reproduction.

When the processing is performed at step S235 or S233, at step S236, adetection unit 131 of the controller 96 determines whether the user hasacted to cover the touch sensor 95, on the basis of a detected signalsupplied from the touch sensor 95. Note that, the determination ofwhether the motion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has beenmade, is made at step S236 in a similar manner to step S11 of FIG. 7.

In a case where it is determined at step S236 that the motion in whichthe touch sensor 95 gets covered has not been made, the processing atsteps S237 to S241 is skipped and the external-sound capturingprocessing finishes.

At the point in time when the processing at S236 is performed, theexternal-sound capturing function remains performed with the audio ofthe content under reproduction or the audio of the content remainsreproduced with the noise-cancelling function remaining performed.

At this time, particularly in a case where the user has not acted tocover the touch sensor 95, namely, in a case where the performance ofthe external-sound capturing function of reproducing only the externalsound has not been indicated, the processing performed until now iscontinuously performed.

In contrast to this, in a case where it is determined at step S236 thatthe motion in which the touch sensor 95 gets covered has been made, theprocessing at steps S237 to S241 is performed and the external-soundcapturing processing finishes. Note that the processing at steps S237 toS241 is similar to the processing at steps S104 to S108 of FIG. 13, andthus the description thereof will be omitted.

In this case, in response to the motion of the user in which a handcovers the entire touch sensor 95, the processing causes thereproduction of the audio of the content to stop and causes theexternal-sound capturing function of reproducing only the external soundto be performed.

Particularly even in a case where the external sound has been reproduceduntil now with the audio of the content under reproduction, for example,the external-sound capturing function can be performed immediatelywithout the reproduction of the audio of the content when the user makesthe motion to the touch sensor 95 because the external sound isdifficult to catch sufficiently.

As described above, the headphone 81 detects the motion in which theuser converse the touch sensor 95 or the operation to the external-soundcapturing switch 261. In response to the detected result thereof, theheadphone 81 reproduces the external sound with the reproduction of theaudio of the content stopping or the audio of the content underreproduction.

This arrangement enables the user to catch the external sound moreeasily and promptly. Particularly, the achievement of two types ofexternal-sound capturing functions for the case where the external-soundcapturing switch 261 is operated and the case where the motion to thetouch sensor 95 is made, enables the user to use the functions properlyin response to a situation, so that the usability of the headphone 81can improve.

Here, the pieces of processing in series described above can beperformed by hardware or can be performed by software. In a case wherethe pieces of processing in series are performed by software, a programincluded in the software is installed onto a computer that controls, forexample, the headphone 11 or the headphone 81 described above. Here,examples of the computer include a computer built in dedicated hardware,a general-purpose computer, and the like that can perform variousfunctions with installation of various programs. In addition, theprogram to be executed by the computer is previously recorded in, forexample, a recording unit not illustrated of the headphone 11, theheadphone 81 described above, or the like.

Note that the program to be executed by the computer may be a programfor performing processing on a time series basis in the order describedin the present specification, or may be a program for performingprocessing in parallel or with necessary timing at which a call is made,for example.

In addition, embodiments of the present technology are not limited tothe embodiments described above, and thus various alterations may bemade without departing from the scope of the spirit of the presenttechnology.

In addition, the effects described in the present specification are, butare not limited to, just exemplifications, and thus additional effectsmay be provided.

Furthermore, the present technology can have the followingconfigurations.

(1)

A headphone including:

a sound collecting unit configured to collect outer sound;

a detection unit configured to detect a specific motion to a sensor unitfor capture of the outer sound; and

a reproduction control unit configured to cause, in a case where thespecific motion is detected, the outer sound collected by the soundcollecting unit to be reproduced and volume of audio under reproductionto be reduced or the reproduction of the audio to stop.

(2)

The headphone according to (1), in which the sensor unit includes atouch sensor.

(3)

The headphone according to (1) or (2), further including the sensorunit.

(4)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (3), in which the specificmotion is a motion in which the sensor unit gets covered.

(5)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (4), in which

the detection unit detects a different motion from the specific motionto the sensor unit, and

the reproduction control unit causes, in a case where the detection unitdetects the different motion from the specific motion, processing of adifferent function from a function of reproducing the outer sound, to beperformed.

(6)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (5), further including anoperation unit for the capture of the outer sound,

in which the reproduction control unit causes, in a case where anoperation to the operation unit is made, the outer sound collected bythe sound collecting unit to be reproduced with the audio reproduced.

(7)

The headphone according to (6), in which the operation unit is a switch.

(8)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (7), in which thereproduction control unit causes, during the detection of the specificmotion, the outer sound to be continuously reproduced and the volume ofthe audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of theaudio to stop.

(9)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (7), in which thereproduction control unit starts, in the case where the specific motionis detected, control of reproducing the outer sound and reducing thevolume of the audio under reproduction or stopping the reproduction ofthe audio.

(10)

The headphone according to any one of (1) to (9), further including anoise-cancelling processing unit configured to achieve anoise-cancelling function on the basis of the outer sound collected bythe sound collecting unit

(11)

The headphone according to (10), in which the reproduction control unitcauses, in the case where the specific motion is detected, the volume ofthe audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of theaudio to stop, and mixed audio of audio for noise cancelling and theouter sound collected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced, theaudio for noise cancelling being generated by the noise-cancellingprocessing unit on the basis of the outer sound.

(12)

The headphone according to (11), in which the audio for noise cancellingis audio that cancels a low-frequency component in the outer sound.

(13)

A reproduction control method of a headphone including a soundcollecting unit configured to collect outer sound, the method includingthe steps of:

detecting a specific motion to a sensor unit for capture of the outersound; and

causing, in a case where the specific motion is detected, the outersound collected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced and volumeof audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of theaudio to stop.

(14)

A program for causing a computer configured to control a headphoneincluding a sound collecting unit configured to collect outer sound, toexecute processing including the steps of:

detecting a specific motion to a sensor unit for capture of the outersound; and

causing, in a case where the specific motion is detected, the outersound collected by the sound collecting unit to be reproduced and volumeof audio under reproduction to be reduced or the reproduction of theaudio to stop.

REFERENCE SINGS LIST

-   11 Headphone-   21-R, 21-L, 21 Housing unit-   22 Touch sensor-   23 Monitoring switch-   81 Headphone-   94 Speaker-   95 Touch sensor-   96 Controller-   97 Microphone-   131 Detection unit-   201 NC block-   231 Mixer-   261 External-sound capturing switch

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A sound output device comprising: a housing worn onan ear of a user and including a first housing face on a first side ofthe housing; a sound collecting device configured to collect outersound; a sensor arranged on the first housing face; a detection deviceconfigured to detect a specific motion to the sensor to cause the soundcollecting device to capture the outer sound; a noise-cancellingprocessing device configured to perform a noise-cancelling functionbased on the outer sound collected by the sound collecting device; and areproduction control device configured to cause: in a case where thespecific motion is detected, the outer sound captured by the soundcollecting device to be reproduced, and volume of audio underreproduction to be reduced or the audio under reproduction to bestopped, wherein the reproduction control device is configured tocontrol reproduction of the outer sound when the noise-cancellingfunction is performed by the noise cancelling processing device.
 16. Thesound output device according to claim 15, wherein the specific motionincludes at least one motion of tapping the sensor a predeterminednumber of times, swiping the sensor, covering the sensor, or, touchingthe sensor.
 17. The sound output device according to claim 15, whereinthe detection device detects a different motion from the specific motionto the sensor, and the reproduction control device causes, in a casewhere the detection device detects the different motion from thespecific motion, processing of a different function from a function ofreproducing the outer sound.
 18. The sound output device according toclaim 15, further comprising an operation device, wherein thereproduction control device causes, in a case where an operation to theoperation device is made, the outer sound captured by the soundcollecting device to be reproduced with the audio reproduced.
 19. Thesound output device according to claim 18, wherein the operation deviceis a switch.
 20. The sound output device according to claim 15, whereinthe reproduction control device starts, in the case where the specificmotion is detected, control of reproducing the captured outer sound andreducing the volume of the audio under reproduction or stopping theaudio under reproduction.
 21. The sound output device according to claim20, wherein the reproduction control device causes, in the case wherethe specific motion is detected, reproduction of mixed audio of audiofor noise cancelling and the outer sound captured by the soundcollecting device.
 22. The sound output device according to claim 21,wherein the audio for noise cancelling is audio that cancels alow-frequency component in the outer sound.
 23. The sound output deviceaccording to claim 15, wherein the sensor includes a touch sensor with aplurality of element lines, wherein the detection device determines thata respective element line is activated when a signal received from therespective element line is greater than a first threshold value, whereinthe detection device compares a number of activated element lines to asecond threshold value, and wherein the detection device detects a tapwhen the number of activated element lines is greater than the secondthreshold value.
 24. The sound output device according to claim 23,wherein the plurality of element lines are arranged in two directions.25. The sound output device according to claim 23, wherein the secondthreshold value is at least three.
 26. The sound output device accordingto claim 25, wherein the second threshold value is at least eight. 27.The sound output device according to claim 24, wherein each element lineincludes a plurality of touch sensor elements arranged in one of the twodirections, and wherein the respective element line generates the signalin response to user being in proximity to at least one of the pluralityof touch sensor elements in the respective element line.
 28. The soundoutput device according to claim 23, wherein the detection device lowersthe first threshold value after detecting the specific motion.
 29. Amethod comprising: collecting, by a sound output device outer sound;detecting a specific motion of tapping a sensor on the sound outputdevice a predetermined number of times to capture the outer sound;simultaneously performing noise cancelling based on the collected outersound, and reproducing audio; and in a case where the specific motion isdetected, reproducing the captured outer sound, and reducing volume ofthe audio under reproduction or causing the audio under reproduction tostop.
 30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the sensor includesa touch sensor with a plurality of element lines, wherein the detectiondevice determines that a respective element line is activated when asignal received from the respective element line is greater than a firstthreshold value, wherein the detection device compares a number ofactivated element lines to a second threshold value, and wherein thedetection device detects a tap when the number of activated elementlines is greater than the second threshold value.
 31. The methodaccording to claim 30, wherein the plurality of element lines arearranged in two directions.
 32. The method according to claim 30,wherein the second threshold value is at least three.
 33. The methodaccording to claim 30, wherein the detection device lowers the firstthreshold value after detecting the specific motion.
 34. A device for asound output device, comprising: a processor; and a memory includinginstructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processorto: collect outer sound; detect a specific motion of tapping a sensor onthe sound output device a predetermined number of times to capture theouter sound; simultaneously perform noise cancelling based on thecollected outer sound, and reproduce audio; and in a case where thespecific motion is detected, reproduce the captured outer sound, andreduce volume of the audio under reproduction or cause the audio underreproduction to stop.